Barrell Seagrass Gold Label is a BIN-BIN!
Let’s get straight to the point- the Wizards and Sorcerers at Barrell Craft Spirits have simply done it again. They have conjured up another incredible release under the Seagrass portion of their portfolio. Before we get into this, I need to clarify something, and that something is this- I feel as if referring to the expert blenders and maturation team at Barrell as wizards, sorcerers, witches, magicians etc… even lovingly, robs them of the celebration of their skill, and the expertise that they have worked tirelessly to attain. None of this happens accidentally, in fact, there are accidents along the way that provide insights on what not to do, and how to avoid repeating mistakes. The team at Barrell has pretty much single-handedly changed the perception of rectifiers, and that is entirely due to the thanklessly hard work over the years learning new skills, taking risks, and arriving here today with another fabulous release.
This is one of the best bottles of whiskey of any kind that we’ve ever had.
This gold label Seagrass is twenty years old (twenty!), distilled in Canada, finished in Martinique rum, Malmsley Madeira, and apricot brandy casks, rye whiskey, bottled in Kentucky. Barrell’s website provides some really interesting flavor notes. It features an extensive listing for drinking it neat, but what really attracted my attention was the small segment below those notes titled- “With a few drops of spring water.” My pal Bryan, loves to drop water into his whiskey, and does so frequently to see where something lands. I do this on occasion, but with these notes, I decided to do so on my second pour. “The sweet tropical notes are supercharged…” From the first bottle of the batch release of Seagrass, the tropical notes are what made me fall madly and deeply in love with it. Those notes are all here in Gold label, more so than the exquisite 16 year grey label version, and I just cannot get over how wonderful it is. I will not take a stand on which way is better, that’s for you the reader to decide, but I can say that adding water did change the whiskey in the glass, and it was like having two different experiences with the same whiskey.
Now, I got a few immediate questions via DM and texts upon my posting on instagram- “Is it worth $500?” These questions always come up in all kinds of forums. Is it worth it? I’d love to give a short answer here and say yes, or no, but when talking about this kind of scratch, and this kind of whiskey, the answer must include context and nuance. So here is my response to the burning question. Is Seagrass Gold Label worth $500? Answer- It depends. The easy out is to say that if you are affluent, yes it’s worth it. I won’t take the easy out here. I think Seagrass Gold label is worth it regardless of your level of affluence. The whiskey is old, it’s richly layered and full of flavors that aren’t commonly found in any other offerings from any other brand. 20 year canadian rye can go for $300 and up at MSRP (Lock Stock, Boss Hogs etc..), and then to be finished in those three other barrels and bottled at cask strength, I mean, this isn’t out of line with my expectations. The flavor profile of this is unlike anything you’ve ever had. Look at your whiskey museum, nothing on it is like this. This isn’t an every day rye whiskey release, this is something that was distilled in 2002 for chrissakes! Worth it? To me? Absolutely without question it’s worth every penny, and if you love rye like I do, this is a BIN-BIN bottle. BIN-BIN by the way, means “Buy it Now,” twice. Yes, worth a backup.
Yeah you can see my hand in the reflection, you’re lucky it was all the fingers instead of only one.
I will wager that to the people that pay secondary for Elmer, Weller 12, and Rock Hill Farms ($300!!!!) this would not be of interest because it’s a rye and not from Buffalo Trace, so they won’t be scooping these up to trade or flip. This is great news for us that want to drink it. These should be available to some extent, but I wouldn’t bet on it staying that way after people like Fred get ahold of it. As a whiskey insaniac, I crave these types of releases, because I know that these are bottled moments in time, once gone, they’re gone.
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- Mickey Pinstripe